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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25813513">A Misdirection of the Heart</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/stelliums/pseuds/stelliums'>stelliums</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AkuRoku Week (Kingdom Hearts), Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Mentioned Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Post-Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, Short One Shot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 12:01:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>929</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25813513</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/stelliums/pseuds/stelliums</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>akuroku week #7 - free day</p><p>a grieving nobody finds a spark of hope, if only for a moment.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Axel &amp; Roxas (Kingdom Hearts), Axel &amp; Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Axel/Roxas (Kingdom Hearts)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Akuroku Week 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Misdirection of the Heart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="">
  <p>It had been months since he had last seen Roxas. The moment that he had lost him was a blur. One second he was there; the next, gone. The time afterwards was similarly hazy. Axel had taken to wandering through worlds and missions that meant little to him any more. He was either unresponsive or too jumpy when someone approached him. It was funny, in some sick, twisted way, how much the removal of Roxas from his life had changed him.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Then he had seen him. A boy running through worlds much like himself but with purpose, with something to prove. The glint of the Keyblade in his hand confirmed to Axel what he so desperately wanted to be true. So he had spent the past few months chasing after him, always two steps behind. Whenever he had managed to get close, he had either spooked the boy or he had already left of his own volition.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>The rain thundered down upon his arrival. This world was unfamiliar to him. It appeared unfamiliar to the other boy, too. He stood in the clearing, alone, one hand reaching upwards to feel the rain. Like Axel, he had no shelter from the weather. The thick, hooded cloak of the Organisation served him well, unlike the boy’s short sleeved jacket. Leaves and twigs crunched underfoot as he approached him like a wolf stalking a rabbit. Rather than sinking his teeth into him when he reached him, though, Axel pulled the boy close to him and used his height to provide a little shelter from the rain.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Finally... Roxas...” He murmured, the corner of his lips twitching into a smile. There was an ache behind his eyelids, as though he was too emotional to even cry. “I knew I’d find you again.. Do you know everything I’ve done to find you here?!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Roxas was frozen still against him, silent. His heartbeat was rapid inside his chest. A chest that was supposed to be as empty as his own. Nobodies didn’t possess the luxury of a heart. Maybe one day, he thought, but for now the idea was nothing but Xemnas’s fantasy. Axel wasn’t mistaken – he could hear the quiet thumping. When he pressed his hand against Roxas’s chest, he could feel it too. There was something off about him, something fundamentally wrong.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Who’s Roxas?” The voice that answered him was unfamiliar but concerned. Bright blue eyes gazed up at him, unmistakably Roxas’s, but the similarities ended there. The boy he had ensnared in his arms had brown hair, not blonde, already darkened from the rain. He was tense, unnerved by Axel’s presence. “Who– who are you?!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>It was an easy mistake. The boy wasn’t a stranger to him, though he had only met him once and not on positive terms. “You don’t remember me? That’ll make it easier for us to part ways, then. So long, Sora.” The name sounded bitter on his lips. Axel let go of him and stalked past without a single glance behind him. He had wasted time chasing after a red herring. His hands clenched into fists at the thought of how far Roxas may have gone while he had been on the wrong trail. He had to bring him back, he had to. Or he and Roxas could travel together; two rogues would be safer than one. But he had to find him first...</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Wait! Hey, come back!” Axel heard Sora run towards him. He knew nothing of stealth – his heavy-looking shoes splashed through puddles and pools of water without a care in the world about what may be lurking out of sight. Sora caught up with him and started to walk alongside him. He gazed up at him, with those eyes that Axel was sure didn’t belong to him. “You didn’t answer my questions. If you tell me who Roxas is, I could help you find him.” He grinned and stretched his arms above his shoulders.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Roxas is– he’s the closest friend I have. You would know him if you saw him... he’d probably glare at you at first, but he warms up to people pretty quick. At least, he warmed up to me kind of quickly...” A smile crossed his lips, unbidden, as they continued walking together through the rain-soaked wood. “He’s about your height, blonde, the brightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. As I said, you’d recognise him immediately–“</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Sora paused in his tracks. He stood in the rain, silently staring at his hands. Axel hadn’t noticed and had walked ahead. He turned around when he realised that Sora wasn’t with him, watching the boy with a raised eyebrow.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>He shook his head as if trying to knock himself out of a trance and ran forward to join him again. “Sorry, Axel!”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>How had he remembered his name, when Axel was certain that Sora had no recollection of the last time that they had seen each other? If he had, then it was likely that they would have come to blows, rather than walk together as though they were friends.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Are you going to keep telling me about– about Roxas?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>Somehow, he had the feeling that anything he could possibly say about Roxas was old news to Sora. Axel gazed at his eyes again. If eyes were the windows to one’s soul, all that he was able to see in Sora’s was Roxas. A sneer replaced his genuine smile. “Don’t you worry. I think I already have a clue about where to find him.”</p>
  <p>His chakras appeared in his hands without a second thought.</p>
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